Avengers Infinity War (and beyond) anticipation thread

[Grendelsbayne]

I figure Stark, Rogers, Rhodes and Thor (or Loki) are all going to bite it in one of the two movies, most of them because their contracts are up (RDJ is on movie-to-movie but he's been making more and more noise about being too old for this). Maybe an ancillary character like Drax or, I don't know, Wong.

The easy answer, comics-wise, would be that they replace Iron Man with Rescue (Pepper Potts), but I think that's unlikely given how much Gwyneth Paltrow has trashed her experiences with Marvel Studios. They might actually give Iron Man a rest for a while before doing something like putting Peter Parker in the suit.

I pretty much expect everyone to die - or at least almost everyone. But most of them will be brought back, of course. Rogers will be gone for good. Stark will probably be dead, but might return on a case by case basis as the Stark AI. Thor seems a probable candidate, cause what else is there for him to do with Asgard gone and his trilogy finished? Hawkeye could go several different ways - death, actual retirement, or taking a larger leadership role in the team. Black Widow shouldn't die permanently, as Feige has claimed his intention to do a BW movie in phase 4. Rhodes... eh, he could easily die, but I don't think his death serves much purpose. Not many people are going to wail at the thought of losing him. And it could bring bad publicity with killing off one of the few non-white heroes they've got. Especially after the blatant death bating of civil war. It'd be Glen from Walking Dead all over again.

The rest should be safe as the 'newer' characters who ought to be sticking around to carry the MCU forward. Although, Vision worries me a bit. I really don't want him to die, but the mind stone thing seems pretty major.

And, yeah, ancillary characters may be a possibility as well, though personally I'd go for Winter Soldier (since Cap's mantle can be carried by Falcon and Stan's 9 movie contract would make his death an actual surprise).

The big question mark for me in this regard is the Guardians. On the one hand, it'd be weird if only Avengers died. On the other hand, how does Guardians 3 deal with the fact that one or more of the teammates died in some other movie? That seems to be pushing the limits of the shared universe formula. And if they do want to, who goes? Star-lord and Gamora are the main heroes of the team. Rocket and Groot are the fan favorites. Mantis would be a bit of a cop-out who people don't yet care that much about. Which means Drax and Nebula. I guess that makes sense since both of them actively want to kill Thanos.

Plus, nobody who dies in the MCU ever really stays dead.

Except for all the people who have, right?

I wonder if they could get RDJ back just as a CGI hologram/AI for a War Machine & Riri Williams Ironman torch-passing. A day in a recording studio for however many millions might be a tempting offer.

Teenage genius girl reverse engineers a suit of the now dead Tony, stumbles on some hidden protocols where Tony cleverly hid an AI of himself knowing that eventually someone would be smart enough to find it and that person would be a worthy heir to both his lab and mantle. It's not a fresh take but its plenty enough for Marvel to make something great, and it would be nice to see a more gender-balanced lineup for the next phase/era of films.

This is exactly what I hope we see for any future IM movie.

 

[Tosk]

Plus, nobody who dies in the MCU ever really stays dead.

Provided you don't count Stane, Raza, Yondu, Vanko, Erskine, Yinsen, Killian, Ronan, Pierce, Red Skull, Malekith, Meredith Quill, Ego, Sitwell, von Strucker, Quicksilver, Yellowjacket, and probably more that I'm forgetting.

 

[Anwar]

Provided you don't count Stane, Raza, Yondu, Vanko, Erskine, Yinsen, Killian, Ronan, Pierce, Red Skull, Malekith, Meredith Quill, Ego, Sitwell, von Strucker, Quicksilver, Yellowjacket, and probably more that I'm forgetting.

He's probably one of those "You gotta kill off the leads or it doesn't count!" types.

 

[Venardhi]

Provided you don't count Stane, Raza, Yondu, Vanko, Erskine, Yinsen, Killian, Ronan, Pierce, Red Skull, Malekith, Meredith Quill, Ego, Sitwell, von Strucker, Quicksilver, Yellowjacket, and probably more that I'm forgetting.

Well, if we're talking all of the deaths you're short quite a few. Notable ones though? Frigga should make the list at the very least.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

What did Marvel call their version of rewriting history (ala: DC's Crisis Of Infinite Earths for one)? Everybody comes back froim the dead at some point if it makes for good storytelling.

 

[Reverend]

Unless I'm forgetting something, only one character has actually come back from the dead so far and even then it's a TV only thing not acknowledged in the movies. There's been a few instances of a character disappearing (usually into a abyss of some description), presumed dead by the characters only to pop back up later (i.e. Bucky & Loki...twice) and a few that are still officially "gone" but may show up again at some point (Red Skull & Wasp.)

Provided you don't count Stane, Raza, Yondu, Vanko, Erskine, Yinsen, Killian, Ronan, Pierce, Red Skull, Malekith, Meredith Quill, Ego, Sitwell, von Strucker, Quicksilver, Yellowjacket, and probably more that I'm forgetting.

The Ancient One, Frigga and Peggy Carter leap to mind.

 

[F. King Daniel]

Loki died except he didn't, twice. Bucky died except he didn't. Phil died except he didn't. Groot died except he didn't. Fury died except he didn't.

YMMV, but when someone dies in a Marvel movie I don't really engage because they've faked out so often.

 

[Dick Whitman]

 

[Reverend]

Loki died except he didn't, twice.

The first time he didn't "die", he fell off a bridge. No body and he showed up in the post credits scene. Second time was a deliberate and calculated fake-out on his part. Again, this was revealed in the very same movie and again he was never dead. Also remember: God of deception and mischief. Sort of goes with the territory.

Bucky died except he didn't.

Again, he fell off a bridge. No body. Was never dead and the fall had very serious and lasting consequences.

Phil died except he didn't.

Oh he died alright and got brought back the hard, brutal, agonising way that had lasting consequences...one of which being nobody in the movies actually knows he's not dead anymore and will probably stay that way until Marvel Studios and Marvel Entertainment make nice. So in the movies, for all intents and purposes Coulson is still dead.

Groot died except he didn't.

Groot did die. Groot is still dead. The Groot that's living with the Guardians now it technically his offspring. And he's Groot.

Fury died except he didn't.

When someone tries to assassinate you, it's wise to make them think they've succeeded. He is a super spy after all, so just as with Loki deception is par for the course. It's not as if he got away without a scratch either.


So in all that a grand total of *one* person explicitly died and was brought back to life, weighed against the dozens of named characters that explicitly died...and stayed dead. Yeah, can see why this is a huge problem!

Honestly I'm surprised you didn't cite those five seconds Tony's heart may have stopped before Hulk screamed in his face.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I don't think that it's a safe assumption that just because an actor's contract is running out that they're going to automatically kill off the character.

The combination of MCU lead actors wanting to move on, their per-film salary increasing, and the franchise need to start pushing B and C level characters for future movies (assminung they are produced) reads like Evans, RDJ and Hemsworth are on the eve of taking their final MCU bow.

Loki died except he didn't, twice. Bucky died except he didn't. Phil died except he didn't. Groot died except he didn't. Fury died except he didn't.

YMMV, but when someone dies in a Marvel movie I don't really engage because they've faked out so often.

Agreed. There's no risk, and when your "grave situation" never places characters in said "grave situation" there's no drama at all, which means audiences check out because they know the characters--like a video game will reset. Everyone has endless lives. The only way this will change is when the BIg Three (and their contracts) force mortality on the series.

 

[Hugo Rune]

 

[JD]

I'm expecting this or actually Avengers 4 to be the last movie for at least some of the Phase 1 leads, but I doubt they'll kill them all off. They'll probably leave things open just in case one or more of them are willing to come back for smaller supporting roles or cameos.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Gorgon was dead and brought back as well. Both he and Coulson were brought back using means based upon Kree DNA, and there was severe psychological after-effects in both cases. They are the only two characters that have truly come back from the dead.

Also, I don't see the Warriors 3 being brought back any time soon either.

 

[jep316]

Don't know if this is a spoiler or not but I read that the Hulkbuster Ironman armor in the trailer is...

Spoiler

being worn by Banner.

 

[Turtletrekker]

Interesting theory. I can see Banner wanting to take part in the battle without having to resort to Hulking out. Source?

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Don't know if this is a spoiler or not but I read that the Hulkbuster Ironman armor in the trailer is...

Spoiler

being worn by Banner.

That just seems like a set up for you-know-who to eventually give in to his true nature somewhere at the end of the film.

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Don't know if this is a spoiler or not but I read that the Hulkbuster Ironman armor in the trailer is...

Spoiler

being worn by Banner.

I read the same during the trailer analysis by io9. That information comes from Lego tie-in sets, although their source of that information has already been removed from that page.

 

[Anwar]

"Dental Plan!"

"Thanos needs Infinity Stones!"

Agreed. There's no risk, and when your "grave situation" never places characters in said "grave situation" there's no drama at all, which means audiences check out because they know the characters--like a video game will reset. Everyone has endless lives. The only way this will change is when the BIg Three (and their contracts) force mortality on the series.

You mean like how DC put Wonder Woman in a movie where she was in no real danger?

 

[Skywalker]

Mmm, infinite donut...

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Don't know if this is a spoiler or not but I read that the Hulkbuster Ironman armor in the trailer is...

Spoiler

being worn by Banner.

Just like in the Bendis written Avengers Assemble series from a few years back, which featured Thanos as a main baddie. There's precedent. And I loved that moment.